CAMPAIGNERS claimed today that "declining standards" of education in Clifton were a major reason why the Arc Light Centre should not be moved into the area.

A report by the Grosvenor Terrace Residents' Association (GTRA), opposing plans to use the former Shipton Street School as Arc Light's new base, has concluded that the community is not "robust" enough to play host to a 34-bed homeless centre.

Sent to City of York Council chief executive David Atkinson, the report claims that "under-achievement" by school children in the area shows the area could not withstand the impact of the centre's relocation.

It claims there is a direct correlation between the percentage of Clifton children receiving special needs education and the number receiving free school meals.

The report concludes that the Clifton community struggles to deal with underachievement, meaning it could not withstand the impact of Arc Light.

But these claims were countered by the council's education chief Patrick Scott, who said the schools in question - Clifton Green, Burton Green and Canon Lee - were performing well in comparison with national averages.

The reports states: "The first conclusion is that the Clifton community overall struggles to raise the levels of pupils' underachievement; the three schools which receive the bulk of pupils from the Clifton ward show generally declining trends in pupils' attainment and their performances are below national expectations.

"The GTRA applauds the work done by the Arc Light centre for its clients. However, the Clifton ward community is not sufficiently robust to improve its own areas of educational and other disadvantage, yet alone withstand the impact of resident and day clients if the Arc Light centre relocates to the former Shipton Street School site. It is a case of a good idea in the wrong place."

The group said low achieving schools were situated closest to the Shipton Street site with no school chart showing a continuing year-on-year performance over the past five years.

It revealed that at Burton Green 29 per cent of pupils had been identified as having special educational needs, with the figure at 33 per cent at Clifton Green.

But Mr Scott said the classification of special educational needs varied at each school, and stressed that both schools had good Key Stage exam results and good Ofsted inspection reports.

"Special educational needs can vary from school to school and there are differences in how schools classify it," he said.

"Both of these schools are very good at identifying and supporting children with special needs. They have an outstanding record of achievement at the primary stage of education."

Opponents of the centre have gathered a petition with more than 2,000 signatures.

An open day in which Arc Light boss Jeremy Jones will unveil his plans for the centre will be held at St Luke's Church Hall in Clifton, York, on Tuesday, from 4.30pm until 8.30pm.

Updated: 10:46 Thursday, August 11, 2005